Know Your Enemies
by Mistfeather
Summary: Scientists have been training a specific girl for fourteen years, under careful supervision. Soon they will release her as a weapon to Magneto. Why? Who is this girl? What will happen when the girl escapes and is found by the X-Men?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi Everyone! Just a quick note/disclaimer. I DO NOT, and probably WILL NEVER own X-Men (although, how cool would that be?) The only person in this fanfiction that i own is Maria. I don't even own her last name, though. J.K Rowling does. :) This is my first fanfiction that i ever ended up doing well on, or at least gotten farther than the first chapter, so bear with me, review, and please don't let MissSparks be the only one that reads this!**

**Ok, just a note before we start-i WILL butcher everyone's accent! Insert your own accent! I can't type them!**

* * *

_I was just getting ready for breakfast as a four-point throwing star came whirring past my head and impaled itself in a tree, barely missing my head. I jumped to my feet, tensing as I analyzed where the attack had come from. I didn't have to wait long before a second star came out from the bushes, towards my throat. I rolled to the right then charged, effectively dodging more stars as I brought out my two hunting knives, each one as long as my arm. I began blocking stars with my knives as I ran towards the bushed and cut off branches to see my attacker._

_It was a young assassin again, always young these days. I sighed as I implanted my knife where his heart is. _If he has a heart,_ I thought grimly. I heard more voices in my head, the way I sometimes did. I recognized this day now that I was wide awake. I turned 14 today._

_I sheathed my knives and went back to my breakfast. I never got more than one attack per day, and it was kind of entertaining to listen to the voices I hear inside my head. They were saying things like _"She turns 14." "Is today the day" _and that voice that replies to it "_Yes. In a few hours."

_This caught my attention. I had never heard anything about today being 'the day'. Come to think of it, I didn't know what 'the day' even is. I shook the thought out of my mind as I began my daily stretches and stances. My light, long reddish blonde hair glowed in the sunlight, flowing to my waist, and my deeply tanned skin glowed and tightened over my muscles as I prepared for the exercises of today. I always took hours out of my day to make way for practicing. I was raised to practice, so I would show no mercy in a battle. They had trained me well. I began in the motion that I had practiced so many times, and flowed almost effortlessly from one movement to the next in a way that made is seem almost too easy to perform. Yet it wasn't. By the time I finished every day I was covered in sweat, since I never let myself stop until it was physically impossible for me to go on._

_I was just finishing for the day when the trees around me faded. I looked around in shock when it was replaced by a circular chamber made out of some kind of…stone? No, that couldn't be it. It looked more like what my knives were made of. I took one out to compare it…or tried. My knives were no longer slung across my back. Where had they gone? I looked around, disoriented, to see a man in a white sort of coat on._

_"Maria." He said. My eyes widened. His voice was one of the voices in my head. Without thinking, I snapped out my fist and caught him on the jaw. He looked surprised and kept coming, so I gave him a roundhouse kick to the head and he went down like I did the first time I tried to fight a master at kung fu._

_I looked around again, making a 360 sweep, and came to a decision fast—I needed to get out of here. I ran towards a place that didn't look as stable as the other places, jumped against the piece of the wall, and it came free, opening for me. I heard voices behind me shouting, but I didn't care. As soon as I got out of the opening, I found myself in a long, rectangular room. I ran down one side, ran against the wall again, and found myself outside. I blinked, smiling and enjoying the sunlight, thinking I was back, but I realized how wrong I was._

Where am I_ was the first coherent words my mind was able to form. What was this place? How did I get here? Why did I come here? Who were those guys back in that place? What happened?_

_I eventually realized that I needed food and water. I couldn't make food for myself, though. I stopped in front of a big building that said _Orphanage_ on it. Whatever that meant. I hope they don't kick me out for being out front. Eventually a woman came outside with a large black sack of some sort that smelled horrible. She put the sack into a black container on the side of the black ground that only went in straight lines. She took one look at me and smiled kindly. "Hello. What are you doing here at this time? Shouldn't a cute girl like you be having dinner with your family?"_

_Wary as I was, I decided that I could take her if things got rough and I replied, "I have no family." _

_Her eyes instantly softened and she said, "Well, you came to the right place. We take in orphans like you no matter what." Oh, so __that__ is what an orphan is. "Come on in, dear. What is your name?"_

_"Maria Kasai Ravenclaw." I knew now that this woman meant me no harm, so I followed her inside. It was a cool place, but I didn't know much about what was here. I mean, the food wasn't hunted. I got two 'sausages', whatever those are, in a little thing called a 'package'. Was it normal for people to eat this easily? Then the woman, named Mrs. White, showed me my room, along with the 5 people I would be sharing the room with. For such a big 'house', it sure was packed._

_"Girls." Mrs. White announced, opening the door, "I have you a new roommate. Girls, this is Maria Kasai Ravenclaw. I'll leave you to introduce yourselves and show Maria around the orphanage." She left, and for a moment there was an awkward silence. Then the girl directly in front of me said, "Welcome to the orphanage. I'm Alex, and this is Tessa, Lily, Breanna and Nicki."_

_Alex had long blonde hair, as did Tessa and Nicki, but Lily and Breanna both had shoulder length dark brown locks. Alex, Lily and Nicki had brown eyes, but Breanna and Tessa had gray eyes. All of them seemed really nice, and they showed me around, as promised, and all of them had loved it when I confirmed to them that I had named myself after a Harry Potter house ( I didn't know what that was ), but we went to bed pretty early. We were all tired. I wondered if anything would ever get better._

_I was happy with how great this life was. I didn't have to fight every time I wanted to eat in peace, and I had 3 friends. 6 months had passed, and Breanna and Tessa had both found new homes, but Alex, Lily, Nicki and I still had a great time. One day Mrs. White came into out room and told us that a family was coming for a fourteen or fifteen year old girl. The four of us went out to greet the family, and I wondered which one of us would leave this time._

_"These are the Prices." Mrs. White said. Then she turned to the family, "Do you see one in particular?"_

_"Yes, we do." Said the woman, after consulting with her husband. Then she said, "What are their names?" Mrs. White named us, and the woman said, "Maria, would you like to come live with us?" I was stunned, but I guess I nodded, because I went up to my room with the other three to get packed. I hugged Alex, said good-bye to the other two, and I was off._

_I loved their house, and their adopted son, Matthew. He took an immediate liking to me and we played together every day. I was enrolled in a high school, where I excelled academically, and I finally felt like I belonged._

_Three more years passed, and my relationship with Matthew did not change. We were as inseparable as paper and glue. I helped him learn to ride a bike, and I took him skating when I got my driver's license. I understood more and more about this strange culture, but I still frequently asked questions. I loved going to school, since it gave me a chance to run around. I am a feisty person, but I can contain myself. One day, at school, I had just dropped off Matthew at school when I started to feel really weird. I thought that it would pass, and went on to school anyway. At school, I was met by lots of people asking me what I did to my hair. _

_"What? I didn't do anything to my hair." I replied, bewildered. My friends said my skin looked darker too. "I guess it's a trick of the light." I replied, shrugging. By afternoon, I really didn't feel good, so I left school and went home. _

_The next day came, an off day for Matthew, so I got to school early. I stayed in my car as long as I could, and then I went outside to greet my friends. I tapped Alex, who had come to this school this year, on the shoulder, and as she spun around, laughing, to greet me, her smile froze and slid off her face. "What was so funny?" I asked, smiling. Alex backed away, and as I looked from one person to another, everyone else was backing off too. _

_"What?" I asked, frowning. "What's up with you?" Alex thrust a mirror on the ground at my feet, and as I picked it up, my arm was black. Startled, I looked into the hand mirror and nearly cried out. My hair was a dark, fiery shade of red that would have been okay, except for the fact that my skin was a mottled black color. This time a cry did escape my lips as I saw my eyes. They had no whites, no pupils—they were just the same shade of red as my hair, but a fraction of a shade lighter. I instantly gasped, shocked at my own reflection, and looked up from where I was kneeling on the grass to see the jerk Rich and his cronies around me in a triangle formation. I stood up, brushed myself off and stared him in the eyes. "What do you want, Rich?" I growled._

_"I want to make you sorry you were born." He sneered. His two thugs chuckled. Those dorks._

_"Too late, Rich. Been there, done that." I sighed wearily._

_That was the wrong thing to say. Without a word, Rich punched me so hard in the face I saw stars. I was going to have a nasty, bruised cheek later. He kept on punching me: stomach, ribs, face, ribs again, and when I threw up my hands in an attempt to ward off his blows, I felt a pulsing heat through my arms and a wave of fire left my hands and shot towards Rich and his buddies. They screamed and ran, while I ran in the opposite direction, mortified. I had to get home to see what was going on._

_When I got home, apparently my adopted parents had gotten a phone call of some sort, because once they saw me, they wouldn't come near me. It wasn't just my appearance. It was the story of what happened to Rich getting out. Matthew, on the other hand, ran towards me, obviously not caring that I suddenly had mottled black skin, and cried, "Ria! You're home!" I twirled him around, glad that someone was there for me, even if that someone was only 7 years old. My parents weren't too happy, though._

_"Put him down before you hurt him!" My father's voice rumbled across the room. My head snapped up as I replied defiantly, "Why should I? He's my brother! He wants me to hold him!" _

_"Do as I say!" He roared. Anger seemed to run through my veins instead of blood, and before I could stop it, fire ran out of my hands and, before my horror-struck eyes, my beloved brother caught fire. "Matthew!" I screamed as I tried to stop the flow of fire. Although I put him down, the fire was connected to him, igniting him even more. He was crying and screaming, but putting his arms out to me. Knowing that there was nothing we could do to save him, I gathered him into my arms in a tight hug once more so he could say "I love you, Ria." weakly with his final, dying breath._

_As soon as Matthew was gone, my flame was too. Tears were streaming down my cheeks as I realized what I had done. I had killed my own brother. I had killed my life and joy. My adopted parents were staring at me in shock, and I said, "Dad…"_

_"NO!" He roared. "I am NOT your father! You have made it clear how much you love us. LEAVE this house! NOW!" I stumbled out of the house, crying and blurry-eyed. Where would I go? Where __could__ I go? I ended up going to a deserted old alley at dusk to wait for light to come again. There, where no one could see me, I put my face in my hands and I sobbed._

_I stopped crying abruptly when I heard footsteps less than 30 feet from where I was. I heard a male voice, accented with something definitely European—German?—say, "Is this her, Storm?" _

_The replying voice was a woman's, saying softly, "Yes, Kurt. I'll go talk to her." I heard footsteps, and a soft beam of a flashlight fell on me. I screamed, "No! Don't come near me! You'll just run away! They all ran away." My voice broke on the last word, and I fought to keep myself from crying. I felt a smooth, soft hand on my shoulder, and when I looked at it my hair covering my face, it was normal skin. I heard her say to me, "Maria, don't worry. I won't run away. I'm like you."_

_"You're lying!" I yelled at her, my voice slightly muffled by my hair. "You aren't like me! You don't need to hide your face because people are scared of the way you look! You'll never know how it feels! I'm a freak!" My voice broke again._

_"Oh." She said softly, understanding. "Kurt, I think that you would convince her better than I can." She walked away, drawing her hand back, only to be replaced by another hand. The European? Kurt's accented voice replaced the woman's. "Maria, you don't have to be scared of me being afraid of you, I promise. You vant to know vhy?"_

_"Because you're a guy that thinks that he can take anything?" I said, arousing a small chuckle from Kurt. He replied, "No." Then put his fingers under my chin and gently forced my face up so I can look at him. What I felt, before what I saw, is what made me gasp. His fingers were covered with some sort of fur. The texture was remarkable. Then I saw him. His skin was covered in blue fur, like his fingers. He even had a tail! "Did people ever run away from you?" I asked softly. _

_"At first." He replied, just as softly, "But I learned to deal with it, and so can you. I think that this helped, though." He added as an afterthought, and pushed a button on his watch. Instantly, his blue fur was replaced by smooth human skin, and his blue hair changed to a darker blue-black. I was alone once again._

_"You can be normal too?" I nearly wailed. I thought that this guy, Kurt, was like me. Was anyone like me? "No." He quickly disabled his watch, understanding my distress. "It's just an illusion. I really have blue fur."_

_"What do you want with me?" I asked. "If you're a scientist, you better stay out of my head or I swear I will break out again." My voice gained an edge. "We aren't scientists." The woman—Storm—walked up to us, but stepped back once again as my eyes filled with tears at the prospect of human skin. Kurt continued talking. "Ve vant you to be safe. Ve vant to bring you to a school in Vestchester county, New York. You vill be safe there, because there is a school there. A school for gifted youngsters, as we call them or as others calls them, freaks." He grimaced as he said the last words._

_"There are…others…like me?" I couldn't believe it. "Vell, not exactly like you." Kurt said, crushing my hope. "But ve all have special abilities. Vill you come with us?" He stood, and then held out his hand to help me up. I began to stretch out my hand, but then snatched it back as I remembered what had happened the last time I had let someone touch me, when I lost my temper. "No!" I cried._

_Kurt looked confused. "Vhy vould you not vant to be safe?" "Because I don't want to hurt anyone else." I said despairingly. I stared at my hands. "I'm a murderer. I don't want to hurt you. You've been kind, so I don't want to repay you by hurting you." _

_"You von't hurt me." Kurt said gently. "I von't let you hurt me or yourself." He stretched out his hand once more, and after hesitating for a moment, I took his outstretched hand and he pulled me up. "Are you sure you aren't scared of me?"_

_He smiled "Yes. I'm sure. Do I scare you?" I replied without thinking. "No, of course not. I trust you." He looked at Storm, then back at me. "Then can I do something?"_

_"Okay." I replied warily. Kurt grabbed my hand in one of his, and one of Storm's in the other. He said, shrugging "You know, just for the record, teleportation is possible." Then we were off._

_BAMF!_

_Thinking back on it, it's a really good thing that Kurt didn't teleport us __into__ the building directly—suddenly being in an enclosed space probably would have caused me to start hyperventilating. As it was, I was shocked enough. I was holding onto Kurt's hand for dear life, although as soon as I was able, I dropped it. I trusted him, but I was still wary of the two of them. "Welcome to the X mansion." Storm said, pushing the doors open._

_As we strode through the entrance hall and hallways, I stayed close to Kurt's side, seeing kids who looked normal on every side. These kids had unusual powers, like me? They had normal looking skin, though! Finally, we came to a room, where we found eight people waiting for me, counting Kurt and Storm, and again, all looked normal. Kurt seemed at complete ease among them, but I still was hovering near the door, making sure I knew where the exit was, and was close to it. An old man smiled at me and said, "Hello Maria. I am Professor Xavier. How are you doing?"_

_I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. The man closest to me was flexing his hand muscles, and something was protruding from them—were those metal claws? They glinted menacingly in the artificial light, and I started to edge away from him. Kurt noticed my line of vision and, apparently, so did the Professor. "Logan, put the claws away, she's had enough of a shock today."_

_The man—Logan—muttered under his breath and the claws shot back into his skin, which, of course, only added to the shock. Then the Professor returned his attention to me. "Maria, what is your full name?"_

_I swallowed before replying. "Maria Kasai Ravenclaw." It was an unusual name, but I loved it. It was dark, and yet somehow light. Ravenclaw was a darker name, but Kasai means fire in Japanese. I love Japanese. He nodded. "I see. I want you to tell me everything that has happened to you, today and in your past."_

_I was able to regain some of my fierce, defiant attitude when I said, "Well, then either introduce me to the people in this room or have them go out. I don't trust people easily." The Professor laughed softly, and then went on to say, "All right. You have already met Storm and Kurt. This is Kitty, or Shadowcat," a girl about my age with brown hair waved, "this is Scott Summers, or Cyclops," a man with awesome shades barely acknowledged his name, "Jean Grey," a auburn-haired woman said hello, "Logan, or Wolverine," the man with the claws said nothing, "Rogue." a girl with brown hair and a white streak just looked at me._

_"Better." I said, then went on to tell me story. "I have never known my real parents, and don't expect to. I'm resigned to the fact that my parents are unknown. When I was born, either scientists took us away from my parents, or my parents gave me away, for money or maybe they just didn't want me. I was raised in what I now know was some sort of virtual-reality game. I thought I was in woodlands, in a time where swords, bows and arrows, and knives were chief weapons. They would let me meet others in my world, ones who would teach me in martial arts and weaponry. I bet that if you threw me a piece of rope, I would be able to kill any of you with that within a minute. They trained me to have no mercy. They trained me for reasons I didn't realize until three years ago. I was to be a weapon for someone. They called him a freak, just like me. They called him Magneto. They were going to present me to him on my fourteenth birthday, and if he was pleased I would be used for his purposes. One thing they didn't know about me was that they should have made sure that I was under their control before introducing me to the real world. I may have been shocked, but I knocked out one of the scientists, and escaped the place they had taken me._

_"I was so lost when I got out of there. I had lived in dense woodlands for as long as I could remember, and suddenly I was on the streets of New York. I stumbled around all day until I came across an orphanage, where the people there welcomed me and cared for me. I made friends there, and around six months later, a family came and adopted me. I refused to change my name to Price, though. I had always been Maria Ravenclaw and I always would be. I had a loving family, a mom and a dad, and a younger brother, Matthew. I grew close to him, and I grew to love Harry Potter, chocolate, pears and kettle corn. I seriously love kettle corn. I went to school, made more friends, and everything was fine for three years…until now. Two days ago I started feeling really strange, but I brushed off the feeling, thinking it would pass. My friends thought I had dyed my hair darker, and the next day they ran away because I suddenly had black skin, red hair, and no-whites, no-pupils red eyes. Then, when the school jerks came and starting messing with me, when I threw up my hands to ward off the blows, a column of flame shot out of my hands and they were badly burned. I was shocked and needed comfort, so I did the natural thing—I went home, but my parents stopped dead when they saw me. Matthew seemed happy to see me, but my parents told me to put him down, thinking that I would intentionally hurt my brother, and I got mad and I—I—" _

_I couldn't go on, but I forced myself to find the strength and went on with tears sliding down my cheeks. "He caught fire, but the fire wouldn't stop! I tried everything, but he didn't blame me. He died in my arms, and my parents threw me out then and there. I would have died of misery in that alley I was in that night, but Storm and Kurt came. I wouldn't let Storm near me, though. I couldn't bear the thought of being by someone that looked normal. Kurt talked me into coming. He said that you could teach me to control my powers, even if I don't know the extent of them. Is that true, Professor?" I looked at him pleadingly and gave a sigh of relief as he nodded, eyes troubled._

_"You can meet everyone else tomorrow. For tonight, we need to find you a room so you can sleep." The Professor smiled kindly at me, and Kitty spoke up, "Professor, there's an empty room next to mine that Maria can have, if she wants. I'll show her." I quickly nodded, and said goodnight to everyone as I walked after Kitty._

_Kitty showed me my room, but we walked there in silence. I just wasn't in a talky mood, and Kitty left me be. I just quietly said goodnight and closed the door behind her. It was a nice room, really. It had beauty in the awesome simplicity of it. Some thoughtful person had shown up before I had arrived—the dresser had clothes my size in it. I changed swiftly into a red tank top and ripped-up denim jeans, and then sat down on my bed. There was no way I'd be able to sleep tonight. I put socks over my freezing toes and laced up some red sneakers. What was I going to do, if I wasn't sleeping? That question was answered when I heard a BAMF and a cloud of smoke appeared in my room. I gagged, but I knew who it was. _

_"Kurt! What are you doing here? Oh boy, are you lucky you didn't poof in here when I was changing. Haven't you heard of a little courteous thing called __knocking__?" I demanded in one breath. He smiled mischievously before replying. "Are you going to hurt me?" I replied heatedly, "You can't hurt a dead man, Kurt." His eyes widened, but for such a short time I thought I might have imagined it as he went on, "Vell, you seemed so down before, I thought that you might like a tour of the building, then the town, guided by yours truly. You vould have to vear this image inducer, though. The vatch like thing that made me look normal? The humans don't take too kindly to how ve appear." _

_I laughed, and then said, "Why not?" and that was that. We set off, and I heard Rogue arguing with someone, and Jean laughing at something another guy had said. Kurt began the tour, but I really didn't listen until he said, "And this is the kitchen." This made me immediately ask "Do they have kettle corn? Or maybe chocolate? Or both? Both would be really nice." In that rapid machine gun way of mine. I could fire out questions faster than I could shoot a bow, which was really fast, by the way, arousing a laugh from Kurt. "Maybe ve should find out." Instead of me going in with him, he teleported in, and then teleported back out with two chocolate bars. "Good enough." I said to him, taking a chocolate bar. "That teleportation really is impressive. Though I could do without the smoke." That pretty much ended the school tour, and we went down to a garage sort of place, where he directed me towards a set of keys n the key rack and walked over to a car._

_"Whose car is this?" I asked suspiciously, and he replied "This is Scott's." _

_This is kind of how our conversation went, starting with my question. "Does he know you have it?" "Nope" "Will he be happy if we take it?" "Nuh-uh." "Is his car fast?" "Insanely." But he sounded unsure, as if I might not want to take it because of that. I contradicted him by smiling impishly and saying happily, "Well, let's go before he catches us, then! You drive." He smiled back and caught the keys I threw him with an expert throw. So it wasn't my car. Big deal. When had any of that law stuff ever applied to __my__ life? If it had, I wouldn't be the trained combat warrior/almost weapon for unknown persona I am today. Then again, I was planning on making the unknown part of that statement known soon. I mean, Magneto? What kind of name was that? Then again, what kind of name was Cyclops?_

_I would dwell on that later. Now I was having a good time. "Hey, do you even have a license?" I asked. When he shook his head, I laughed and said, "I didn't think so. Carry on, but on the way back, __I'm__ driving." He grumbled a bit, but eventually gave in. We stopped a lot of places, giving me a lot of landmarks, completely aware that I really wasn't listening. I was just enjoying being outside, but I had one question. "Are there any parks around here?" I asked, hope apparent in both my gaze and my voice, "Anywhere where there are lots of trees?" My spirits dropped when he shook his head, "Not that I know of, but ve can still see the stars if ve sit on the car."_

_I looked at him and said, "I guess that would be ok." As we sat up there, he broke the silence by asking, "Vhy do you vant to be near the trees so much?" I replied by saying, "I was practically born among the trees, and lived in a dense forest all my life. Or at least I had the experience of thinking I lived in trees. It was really just a hologram. Yet, I remember the sight of the trees, and sometimes they put bars in my cage that I thought were trees, so I have experience with climbing trees. I haven't been able to do that for so long now. I just miss it, that's all." I looked straight at him as I went on, "Thank you for bringing me out tonight. I really needed some time enjoying myself. I guess I'm still mourning in my heart, but this helped ease the pain. You know," I added more quietly, "I have never had a real friend before. All of those that I thought were my friends ran as soon as I…changed. Real friends wouldn't do that. I think that you're going to be my first real friend. I wonder if I knew when I was fourteen that my first friend would have pointed ears, blue fur, a tail, and be fuzzy." Kurt pushed me on the shoulder. "Really. I almost forgive you for barging in tonight." I said, my red eyes twinkling with gentle laughter. He smiled, and then stopped, "Vhat? Just __almost__?" I nodded, and then yawned. "We'd better be heading back now, before I collapse. You can still drive, if you don't disturb me." I smiled and shook my head as he grinned in triumph._

* * *

**Ok, so like I said-don't let MissSparks be the only one that reads this! Please review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, so once again, I do not own the X-Men, only Maria. ONLY Maria. End of story. Anyway...chapter 2!**

* * *

_My sleep in the car didn't end well. I woke by being shaken by Kurt frantically. "Well, if you wanted to wake me up, it doesn't mean you have to dislocate my shoulder." I rolled my shoulders a few times as a damage check. He didn't find this amusing so I knew that something serious was up. "Hurry, Maria." He said, "The mansion is being attacked!" Immediately all tiredness was forgotten as I sprang out of the car and began running towards the school in one lithe, swift motion, and Kurt followed closely behind. I didn't know how Kurt could tell in the darkness, but I wouldn't doubt his judgments. As I pushed a button on the image-inducer, causing my real appearance to be known, I pushed my legs to go faster until I was practically flying over the just-watered green lawn. Then I heard it too—the sounds of many moving across the lawn in an attempt to be silent. I had lived in silence so long I knew what it sounded like when others were within one hundred yards of my position. I couldn't tell how many, but there was more than four and less than ten. Hm. Not much of an attack force. Unless…this was a surveillance to see if a certain person was like and since I was the only new person…I slowed until Kurt was side by side with me and I whispered in his ear, "This is surveillance. I don't know who they are watching, but I think they're watching me. The Brotherhood is here. I'm not letting them get to my room." I pushed on the extra speed, not making it to them before they got into the entrance room, but I was in their midst by the time the front doors swung shut. Kurt stayed right by me and whispered, "Vhat are you going to do? Keep them at bay until help arrives?" I hadn't been thinking of that but it was a good plan. I said to him, "Thanks! That's a great plan! You want to go get help, or should I scream at the top of my lungs to attract attention?"_

_It was clear that Kurt wasn't leaving, so I sighed, but as I was about to scream for help, the leader asked, "Where is Maria Ravenclaw's room?" I replied, "Oh, you won't find her there." The leader looked confused, "Why not?" I smiled, "Why, because __I'm__ Maria, of course." I then screamed, "Intruders!" As loud as I could and started dodging, kicking and punching. It wasn't even a minute later that Logan, Rogue and Storm appeared in one end of the room and Kitty and Jean at the other. They looked on in astonishment for about two seconds until I growled, "Are you going to gape like that for the rest of the night? Close you dang mouths and get over here so you can help!" I counted the attack force quickly. Ten. We could take them I could take three, Logan could take two, and the whole fight would be over in like two minutes…tops. Okay, maybe four. So I exaggerate. Anyway, we were all holding our own, I was (as predicted) an army of one, but all the fighting stopped when I yelled, "Hold it!" Even Logan stopped. I stalked up to the leader and demanded, "Why did you come here? What do you want with me?"I held my chin high proudly, and I could tell that some of the people behind me were intimidated. The leader apparently wasn't though. She looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Maria, I am Mystique. I am the only one is this world that is truly like you." She threw back her hood, and I gasped when I saw her. She had orange hair and blue skin. That didn't make me like her any more though. She made me sick. "What kind of cowardice is this?" I hissed, "So afraid of losing you won't even attack in daylight?" She smiled. "Of course not. I came myself to offer you a place in the Brotherhood, with us. Surely you would want to come. We are the side you want to fight for. We could use a girl like you." _

_That was the wrong thing to say. As quick as ever, she had offended me. I didn't let it show, though. I kept my face impassive as I replied, "What's in it for me?" I heard gasps all around, and I could tell that I had fooled everyone. Mystique smiled and said, "Why, you won't be held back. You have potential to be a great warrior, and yet you choose to be held back by __these__ kinds of people." She gestured at Kurt, who looked a little hurt. That made me madder than ever, but I said, "Well, what can you do? Show me, and I might consider it." She smiled and said, "With pleasure." With that, she turned into my brother Matthew. I couldn't move. He put his hand on mine and said, "Come with me. Come and be with the Brotherhood. Do it for me, Ria."_

_That was too much, I slapped Mystique right there and snarled at her, "Get out of here, or I swear that I will not be so nice the next time we meet. Get out and take your mangy friends with you!" She turned back into Mystique, looked at me with hate-filled eyes, and did as I commanded. I turned to the group and said, "Is everyone all—" I broke off as I saw Rogue coming towards me, glaring. She got about three feet from me before I realized what was going on and jumped back, surprised. Rogue kept advancing, so I kept on backing away. "Okay, I am officially confused. What did I do?" I said in bewilderment to no one in particular. Rogue answered for me, "Well, let's think, shall we? You betray us to the Brotherhood and tell us that you are still one of us? Just who do you think you are?"_

_I thought for a minute and said insolently, heatedly, feeling betrayed and much unappreciated, "Well, I __think__ that I'm Maria Kasai Ravenclaw. Do you think I'm someone else? If you think that I'm so unimportant to you just __winning__ back there, maybe I should just pack up my bags and go see if Mystique will still have me." I turned to go upstairs, but both Kurt and Kitty blocked my way. Kitty said soothingly, "It's alright, Maria. Rogue didn't mean it. She's just mad because she didn't win the battle for us." Her eyes sparkled playfully as Kurt went on. "Yes. That's all she meant. None of us want you to leave. Please don't leave, Ria." _

_The use of my nickname was more than I could take at that point, and I pushed through Kitty and Kurt as I ran to my room, saying. "She did too mean it." I heard someone following and yelled, "Leave me alone! I don't want to stay!" over my shoulder as I ran. I sat down on my bed and didn't move again for the rest of the night. I heard someone knocking a few minutes after I went into my room, but I made no move to answer it, and after a few minutes the footsteps quietly receded._

* * *

_The next morning I stretched my stiff muscles and heard someone knock after I had pulled on a gold spaghetti strap with a gold coat and red jeans, with my normal red sneakers and black laces. I took a deep breath and slowly made my way to the door, hearing the conversation now taking place outside. I guess that Kurt and Jean were there. Kurt was saying, "She can't have left! She vas so nice and ve vere going to be friends." Jean's sympathetic reply followed, "Well, I find it hard to believe that she is still here. I'm sorry. You were very kind to her." I swung open the door at that point and asked, "Wait. I'm lost. Who left?" I softly smiled at the surprised looks on both of their faces and said, "What? I was tired yesterday and had had a mutant impersonate my brother. How was I supposed to react when you used his old nickname for me? Quietly say goodnight and walk around unfazed? I'm not like that."_

_Kurt shifted uncomfortably, "Vell, ve thought that after what you said that you vould be gone by this morning. Are you really staying, Maria?" I laughed at how he was careful to pronounce the whole three syllables of my name, and not just the last two, "its fine. I'm really staying, and you can go ahead and call me Ria. All three syllables is kind of a mouthful. I was just shocked last night is all."_

_He said to me, "Well, after you vere so calm taking down those mutants, I thought that vhat I said vouldn't shake you as much as it did." I smiled, "I've had lots of practice with dealing with a tragedy. For example, when I was twelve I had to treat my broken leg without the slightest amount of help. That incident last night just felt like training to me. And while we're on the subject of training and tragedies, would you mind telling me who Magneto is, and what he would want with me?"_

_Jean looked at me uneasily and said, "That is a question that only Professor Xavier can answer for you, but first we have to know the extent of your powers, Maria." I instinctively flinched. I didn't want anyone to get hurt because I wanted to know something, "No, never mind. I think that I would rather that no one knew what my powers were like, at least not when they are within twenty feet of me." Jean looked at me and said, "Would you like to go to the training room?"_

_I was positioned in the middle of chaos, and no one was there to help. I felt strangely calm, as if this tragedy wasn't happening, and I was taking a stroll in a park. Amid the ruins of what was once a beautiful forest, a huge monster roamed. Thinking back on it, I don't remember what it was, what it looked like, only how I beat it. It was only twice as big as me, which was small by my standards. As it lunged at me, I nimbly dodged, and then yelped as a spurt of flame came rushing at me from its hand. _Great,_ I thought,_ this, whatever it is has as much power as I do._ But I ran to one side, hoping with all my heart that it wouldn't notice me while I tried to find a way to beat it. Suddenly, I saw shadows swirling around me, not like your shadow does when it follows you, but other shadows too, curving towards me. I looked down in amazement as the shadows turned me completely invisible. "Well, that'll simplify things." I muttered. If the thing couldn't see me, that was a definite advantage. _

_I knew that fire was going to be no use, so I mentally shoved that idea out of my head, but as I looked around and saw the wreckage of the forest, I got angrier and angrier, heat, yet a dark heat, almost as if it should be cold, pulsed through my fingers. I looked down to see what looked like the color of my skin, but it was like swirling black fire. Yet with how cold it was—I realized what this was. I was holding shadows! As I hurled balls of shadow at the oppressor, I realized that it was working. The strange coldness that the shadows should have possessed seemed to come after the balls left my hands. The creature was being diminished swiftly, and as it was gone, so was the world around me. I was back in the room with the Professor, Jean and Storm heading towards me. They called to me, and I realized that I was still invisible. I quickly told myself to let these people see me, and the shadows were gone, leaving me visible once more. I looked at my hands, and thought to myself, _Well, now I know why I thought naming myself Kasai was so appropriate, besides my obviously fiery personality.

_As Jean reached me, I said indifferently, "Well, that was fun. How'd I do?" Jean just looked at the professor and said to him, "I think we know why Magneto wants Maria. Just looking back at that, you can see how much untamed power she has. No wonder those scientists couldn't control her. I don't think that anyone can force her to do anything she doesn't want to do." I said to them angrily, heat pulsing along my skin, "You know, it would be nice if you wouldn't talk to me as if I wasn't here. I happen to be involved; since this is me you're talking about."_

"_Jeez, this one really does have fire, doesn't she?" A new voice spoke behind me in a bored tone, and I spun around to see Logan entering the room behind me. I glared at him and snarled, standing up for myself, "What's that supposed to mean?" Storm got in between Logan and me before any of us did real damage and said soothingly, "It's not a bad thing, Maria. In fact, what with your abilities, I'd be surprised if you didn't have a fiery, independent nature. Logan was just pointing that out. He just always sounds irritated." She sounded amused. I shot one last furious glare at Logan before pointedly turning my back on him. Man, that guy makes me mad. It's like he only has to open his mouth, and I fell irritated. Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to the professor and said irritably, "So what would this guy Magneto want with someone like me? I can't really be of use to him, can I? By the way, no one has ever told me who the heck Magneto is! Shouldn't I know who he is if he wants me to be his weapon?" I still retained the ability to shoot questions at people so fast they felt as if they were drowning in them. That was good. I had always loved doing that to people. I guess that's what comes from being raised by brutal scientists._

_When they didn't reply, and only looked at each other with knowing glances, the last scrap of my already worn-thin patience faded. I said crossly, "What do I have to do to get some dang answers around here?!" With that, I pushed past Loren and Storm to find my way out of the room._

* * *

**I may or may not post the next chapter before more reviews come in. You know what that means, right? Yeah, review!!!! Thanks so much! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, I am soooo sorry I haven't posted anything new these past few...well, this past really long time! I've been really busy, but I'll make it up to you by hitting you with three chapters on the same day! ;D**

**Ok, as always...DISCLAIMER: I do not own X-Men, XME, or any of the characters in this story EXCEPT for Maria! She is completely, 100% (except for her last name) mine. I claim her!**

_When someone knocked on my door, I made no move to answer it; I just yelled angrily through the door at whoever was out there, "What do you want? I don't want to talk to you right now, Storm!" Apparently, it wasn't Jean, because then I heard a BAMF and suddenly a quite fuzzy blue arm was draped over my shoulders. I looked up and Kurt asked me, eyes sparkling, though he looked concerned, "Vhy don't you vant to talk to Storm?"_

"_No one seems to realize that even though it's my problem, and I am indeed involved, I don't get any answers. I get to be kept in the dark." I shook my head and said to no one in particular, kind of forgetting that Kurt was there, "Who is Magneto? What does he want with me? Why does he want me for that? Why?" I looked up at Kurt as I went on, "It's like I'm in the middle of this huge war that I created, but no one will tell me why this happened, or what happened, or what I did to start the war. No one understands that I __need__ to know. Why won't they tell me?" _

_Kurt sighed, "Those people really are idiots if they think that they can keep something like this avay from you much longer." And I replied, "That's just it. They think that they can get away with not telling me until it's completely and life-threateningly necessary to tell me. What do you know, Kurt?" I hoped that he would have the sense not to keep this from me, for the sake of him and everyone else, because if I wasn't told soon, I'd probably pack my bags and head off into the distance to try to find someone who would tell me, even if it was someone from the Brotherhood._

_He smiled and said to me, "If they didn't tell you today, I had already promised myself that I vould tell you. Who is Magneto? Magneto is someone who has known the Professor for a long time. He has the right idea, fighting for the rights of mutants, but he is going about it the wrong vay. He thinks that instead of humans and mutants being equal, like the professor vants, that mutants should be superior to the humans. Vhat does he vant vith you? I was sort of…uh… accidentally listening in on a conversation I heard between Jean and the professor, and I heard him saying how much power you had. You think that you're amazed by vhat you can do now, that's nothing. You have mounds and mounds of potential that is practically vaiting to unfold. You could burn down everything in a vun hundred-mile radius if you vanted to. You have amazing power and they vere afraid to tell you in case it only complicated things further. If Magneto had his hands on you, he vould have a hold on a powerful, powerful mutant. You could be his prime veapon. Vhy does he vant you to join ze Brotherhood? Vell, he vould be able to have a hold on an almost unlimited amount of power, for one thing. Another thing is that ve might not vant to fight you. He thinks that if you fought for his cause, ve vould not fight you, because of our friendship."_

_I looked at him, "Would you be able to fight me?" and he replied, "That I don't know. I hope ve never have to find out."_

_I looked at him, smiled, and stood up. "Well, thanks for coming up here. I guess I really needed a friend right now, and since you're the only one I'm really close to…" my voice trailed off, "Thanks." I put my arms around him after he stood up, but quickly pulled my arms back, tears stinging my eyes. The last person I had gotten close to was Matthew. Kurt smiled and said, "Vell, I'm also glad that I came up if I helped you out. Ve're friends, remember? That's vhat friends do. I'm glad I could help, _freulin_. I smiled and said, "How did you know?" he replied, "I didn't know. Dinner's now."_

_I laughed and said "Race you down there, and you __can't__ teleport!" Kurt sighed, then said slyly, "You're on. Ten dollars to the vinner?" I nodded. "I automatically win if you teleport even one step of the way!"_

"_Come back when you think you can really beat me, Kurt." I chuckled, pocketing a ten dollar bill as I walked into my room. "See ya tomorrow!" I closed the door, turned, and nearly leapt out of my skin. Or just had a heart attack. Either way, I screamed. "What are you doing in here, Storm? You nearly scared me to death!" The white-haired girl came to put her hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. "Leave me alone. You had your chance to give me answers. You chose to leave me in the dark. Deal with it."_

"_Maria, we're all sorry about that. I came to tell you the truth." I spun around to face her and laughed, "Oh, right. Of course you are. I'm sorry, but Kurt already beat you to it. I know everything I need to know now, no thanks to any of __you__. I guess that the only person I can trust out you bunch of people is Kurt, and maybe Kitty. Now," I opened the door for her, "I'd like to be left in peace." _

_Storm looked like she would have liked to say more, but I guess the look on my face stopped her, because she left at once. I sighed, sinking onto my bed. Will I never have a remotely normal life, even when I'm surrounded by people that make me seem normal? I answered that question myself: Of course not, silly. I felt stupid even thinking that it would happen. Huh, but I guess my parents didn't really love me. If they had, they wouldn't have recoiled at the sight of my face. _

_I settled down on my bed, getting my first good night's sleep since I came here. Oh, how refreshing._

_As I left my room the next morning, on my way to breakfast, I heard a BAMF behind me and spun around to see Kurt knocking on my door. As quietly as I could, I crept up behind him and remarked, "You know, you won't find anyone in there. As far as I know, Maria is going down to enjoy breakfast like a normal person—I mean, a regular old mutant." I smirked as Kurt did a 180, completely surprised. I laughed at the look on his face, and he scowled at me. "How vas I supposed to know that you veren't still sleeping?"_

_I shrugged, "I guess you couldn't have known. Stop scowling at me and just come down for breakfast, Kurt." I rolled my eyes as I uttered the last sentence. It was really getting ridiculous, even if it was kind of funny. He finally stopped scowling enough to talk about halfway there. "Hey, today you'll be able to meet everyone else! There's Jubilee and Rahne, and Remy and Sam and Bobby, and many more. I bet you're going to be subjected to torment until you tell them every single detail about your childhood."_

_I stopped dead and smiled impishly, "In that case…will you teleport me back to my room? I forget something." He obliged, although was very curious, and his eyes widened when I picked up my hunting knives and slung them across my back, and then turned to him and said, "Ready!" Then I saw him eyeing the knives and I sighed, "I'm not going to hurt them. I'm just giving them motivation to keep their distance. I'm kind of claustrophobic. Blame it on always being in an open forest for the first 14 years of my life."_

_He shrugged, with a what-could-go-wrong look on his face, which to that I was thinking _a lot,_ and teleported us right outside. As we walked in, Kurt teleported to his seat, and I was alone by the door, met with a sea of faces. I could feel my eyes widen, and I could barely make myself walk over to where Kurt was sitting and pull up a chair for myself. I was busy trying to stop myself from hyperventilating, so I was looking down until I heard a voice say, "Well?"_

_I looked up, thinking I was in control, and saw Rogue staring at me along with, well, everyone else. "Well what?" I snapped. I always had a short temper when I was freaked. Heck, I just have a short temper, _period_. She looked at me with expressionless eyes and said again, "Don't keep us waitin'. Ah wanna hear your story."_

"_Actually, Rogue, I think that someone else should ask. You already heard, didn't you? You were in the room when I first came to the Mansion, so you would know if you had actually paid attention." I smirked._

_There were stifled snickers from around the table, and Kurt said, "Oh! This is Rahne, who can morph into a wolf at will," A girl gave me a particularly wolfish smile, go figure, "Jubilee, who can project plasma that crackles kind of like fireworks," A brown haired girl waved, "Remy, who can supercharge things, making them explode," I really wasn't paying attention to how everyone looked, so lets just say this one guy nodded, "Sam, who can fly at jet speeds," this other guy waved in a detached way (not paying attention to looks, remember?), "And Bobby, who is kind of like our Iceman." Another guy said hello._

"_Fine" Jubilee said, "__I'll__ ask her. So, where are you from, Maria? Tell us your entire life story."_

_Strangely, I managed to get through the entire meal without resorting to the use of my knives, because that would really give that person a good scare. I just told them everything about my life, and how I came to be here (although I didn't tell them about only letting Kurt near me), so they seemed pretty satisfied as I left. I walked up to my room alone, not really minding the silence. I had had enough of noise to last me a few days of silence._

_I walked into my room, sighed, closed the door, and as I spun around I screamed. Again. My room is just full of surprises these days._

**Ok, that was chapter one of the three I'll be uploading today! review, please?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter two of the three I'll be uploading! Enjoy, and review!**

**I still don't own the X-Men, XME, or any of the characters except for Maria, yadda-yadda, read about it in last chapter's disclaimer.**

"_What the __heck__ are you doing here, Mystique?" I snarled once my heart had started to beat normally again, "Why couldn't you just leave a note or a memo or something instead of giving me a first-class heart attack as I walk into my own room?" _

_The blue-skinned mutant didn't answer immediately, just looked around with mile distaste and said disgustfully, "You actually live here? I could give you so much more, if you were to trust me."_

"_I trust you about as much as I would trust an agitated, poisonous snake." I retorted, "And although sometimes the X-men really annoy the heck out of me, they are still all my friends, and I would __never__ think about betraying them. So you might as well get out of my room, because I'm not changing my mind."_

_Mystique spoke quite scathingly now, "So you would rather fight a pointless cause than fight for something you know is right? You have so much power, Maria. If you joined us, we would show you how to unlock and use all that wasted potential."_

_I knew that Mystique wasn't going anywhere soon, so I began to play along for time. "What's in this for me?" as I reached for my power, in some corner of my mind. "What do I get out of this?"_

"_Why, you would be a high ranking officer in Magneto's army, and he would guide you so that you could use your power at will." Mystique said. I sent her a tight-lipped smirk and said, "Too late. I can already do that."_

_She didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. The gale of fire surrounded her and threw her, hair burning, to the ground three stories below. At that moment I heard a crash and Jean, Logan and Scott barged into my room to see me standing at my window in m own personal fire tornado. Jean yelled, "What are you doing?"_

_I relaxed and as the fire dissipated, I spoke calmly, "Well, I think that I was stopping Mystique from recruiting me to the Brotherhood. That __is__ what you want, isn't it? Or am I just mistaken?" _

_Silence._

"_I think that I'll take that as a __no__." I said impassively. "How did you even know that she was here?"_

"_Uh…well…" Jean looked to Scott, the look in her eyes pleading for his help and my eyes narrowed. I would have taken a story about new technology or something stupid like that, but the look that flashed between the three of them was enough to set my mind spinning. Great. I was now wondering what they were keeping from me this time. I satisfied myself by saying to myself that I would find out eventually. They couldn't keep a secret forever…they couldn't, could they?_

"_Look." I said wearily, suddenly tired, "If you're not going to tell me anything, maybe you should just think about going out and leaving me alone for tonight."_

_They looked at each other, shrugged, and filed out silently._

_Needless to say, after that day I never went anywhere without my knives slung across my back._

_Three days after, I was just coming out of a danger room run when I saw Kitty slip out of sight. I rolled my eyes. Was everyone trying to avoid me, or was I just paranoid? This was the fifth time I had seen this happen in the three days since Mystique had paid me her 'friendly' visit, and so far both Kitty and Jean had been avoiding me, it seemed like. Other than that, everyone was acting perfectly normal._

_Still—I can say that I don't trust them all yet. They've just kept a tiny, little, __I flippin need to know__ secret from me. No problem. And let me just say this; __please__ tell me you caught the heavily coated sarcasm in that last sentence. If you don't see sarcasm coming where I'm concerned, you're a sure goner._

_Sighing, I followed Kitty. I really needed to find out what was with everyone. Even Kurt was acting strange—warier, somehow, as if I might try something to hurt them. Huh. Like I would ever betray them to the Brotherhood…wait._

_GAH! I can't __believe__ that I've been so __stupid__! Now I know what's going on! And I really wasn't happy about it, on the contrary, I was frikkin __pissed__._

_I stalked to Jean's room and knocked. When she answered the door I said simply, "Get everyone else in your room. __Now__. You, the Professor, Scott, Kurt, Logan, Bobby, Jubilee, Rahne, everyone. Gosh, Jean, I can't believe you would do this to me!"_

_Jean didn't question me, and just did what I asked right then. Soon everyone was positioned in Jean's room, and Logan growled, "I hope this is good. This room is too small for my liking."_

"_Fine!" I snapped, "I'll make this as quick as I can!" I turned to the Professor, Kitty, Jean, and Scott, "I cannot __believe__ that you would even think about doing this to me! Why—how could you ever think that I would ever leave you to join the Brotherhood!" _

_Almost everyone looked startled that I had caught on so fast, but Scott looked me in the eye and said, "You were talking to Mystique. You had been acting strangely ever since you arrived. What more reason do we need? We were watching you as a precaution! How did you even know that we were watching you?"_

"_Maybe if you hadn't slipped out of sight every time I saw you and made it obvious that you were up to something, I wouldn't have noticed until you were convinced that I was okay! Yes, I was talking to Mystique—I was trying to get her out of my room! Yes, I had been acting strangely—I had just __killed__ my own brother! You say you needed to learn to trust me, but all this time I was making sure that I could trust __you__." I blinked tears out of my eyes as I continued, "I had trusted all of you, every single one of you, until today. Today you broke my trust in you, and its hard to gain my trust, but even harder to get it back."_

_I looked at all of them in turn, eyes lingering on Kurt as I found the right words to sum up what I wanted to say to him as I shouted, "I trusted you, Kurt! I trusted you more than anyone here, and you didn't even tell them that I was trustworthy. It was all a ploy, wasn't it? You weren't really my friend, none of you were. You were just trying to see if I could deserve your trust. That's not the question though. The real question now is do you even deserve my trust now?"_

"_Vas! I _am_ your friend!" Kurt tried to tell me, but I turned away and said, "If you were my friend…well, you of all people should know what its like to not be trusted." I saw Kitty looking at my black skin and something else dawned on me, "No…way. You—all of you—don't trust me because of how I look! So what if both Mystique and I have different skin from the rest of you? I am in no way related to her! Of course not! Look, the point is that I'm nothing like her!" one look at their faces confirmed my theory. The fact that it was true for Kurt too stung, "Kurt, you filthy __hypocrite__! You don't trust me because of how I look! Look at yourself, and then tell me that's the reason you can't trust me! You know what, forget it. I'm done. I knew that I shouldn't have trusted any of you, from the first time I saw you guys I knew it. I'm the only one that someone like me can trust, but I guess it doesn't matter now, because I'm really leaving this time."_

_I left behind the stunned faces of those I had begun to trust, hoping that I wouldn't cry at their betrayal. I had trusted them! As I got to my room, I unsheathed one of my knives to look at the shiny surface, wondering where I would go. I snarled as I heard a loud BAMF behind me and yelled, "Go AWAY, Kurt!"_

_I heard his voice say behind me, "You can't leave, Maria!" He tried to block my way to the door, but I held up one of my knives, shining and ready for use, and he backed off immediately, his eyes wide. He looked as if he couldn't believe that I would hurt him, but I was focusing all of my concentration on not letting my powers explode, like what had happened back at my other house, with Matthew._

"_Oh yeah?" I said sarcastically, "Then what would you call me walking out the door, and never coming back?" I walked out the door with my things in tow, leaving a hurt, stunned Kurt behind me._

Nothing had been the same at the X mansion since Maria had left nine months ago. Everyone seemed different, not as motivated or cheerful, although they tried to hide it. As Kurt thought this, he was amazed by how true it was.

As soon as Maria had left, he had stood there in her room in shock for ten minutes, and then realized that it was his inevitable task to tell the others what had happened. Kitty and Jean had been appalled since they had been the ones in charge of watching Maria when she had found out. Everyone else had been shocked, except for the Professor. He had just sat back in sad resignation.

But now nine whole months had passed, and Kurt didn't feel any better. Everyone felt responsible in their own way. Kurt was getting overly distracted in danger room runs, and it was much quieter in the halls now.

He met Kitty in the halls and he quietly called out a greeting to her. She walked over and said cheerfully, "Hey, Kurt. How are you?" Normally who knows what Kurt might have said, but now he just shrugged and said, "I'm okay."

She looked him over skeptically, "Really? You know, you didn't have to blame yourself when she left, and you don't have to blame yourself now."

"I know, but I still feel like it's my fault."

"In a way, it's every person's fault." Kitty replied briskly, "but we learned to move on. So do you." As Kurt smiled she added, "Oh, and the Professor is looking for you, Kurt. Go to the Danger Room."

He nodded and, after saying good bye, walked to the Danger Room. He wondered vaguely what the Professor could want with him, but he supposed that it didn't matter. He would find out soon anyway.

He walked right in and, seeing no one in there, called out, "Hello? Professor? Are you there?" He walked to the very center of the room, but still, no one showed up. He saw a flickering shadow behind him, but by the time he began to turn it was too late. Something flashed around his neck, and as hard as he tried, he couldn't teleport himself out of there. He knew what it was in an instant.

Inhibitor collar! Oh, this was just great. Blue flashed in the corner of his eye, and he saw Mystique staring at him, smiling in a satisfied way. "Vhat are you doing, Mystique?" He growled at her.

She shrugged, "Well, Kurt, since little Maria has been gone for quite some time, I thought that it must be time to begin taking out the X men. One. By. One. Isn't it an honor that you get to be the first?"

Sarcasm dripped from her voice like honey as she said the last sentence. The plot unfolded in his mind: Mystique had turned into the Professor, and told Kitty to tell Kurt he wanted to talk to him in the danger room. Kurt had come instantly, trusting the Professor, and Mystique had had an inhibitor collar ready for when he came through the door. He came in, totally unsuspecting, and bingo! He was dead. Kitty wouldn't come looking for him for a long time, and no one else knew that he was in the Danger Room, nor would anyone suspect anything until it was too late.

Mystique took out a long, curved knife and came forward slowly, clearly relishing the moment when he was sure she saw stark terror in his eyes. She raised the knife, and he closed his eyes, waiting for the blow…that _never came_.

He opened his eyes to see Mystique thrown off to the side by a tall, slender figure dressed in all black, all of its skin covered, from head to toe. It wore a hood, so he couldn't see his rescuer's face, but he heard a voice say, so quiet he found it impossible to tell if it was male or female, "How many times will I have to throw you out of a room?"

Mystique ran out of the room about half a minute later, but his rescuer didn't pursue her. Instead, it walked straight up to him with Mystique's dropped knife in her hands. His blood ran cold. Was this person here to kill him itself? As the figure came closer, holding the knife, he let out a soft cry, which didn't make his rescuer/executioner very happy. "Shut up, you idiot, do you want to die?" so he did what it asked and closed his mouth.

The figure pried the knife under the collar and popped it off, but held on to his arm, so hard that he couldn't shake it loose. If he teleported, he'd just bring this person with him.

He looked at the figure once more, and it looked straight back. He could see its eyes now. It asked, shaking its head "Leave it to you to be an idiot. I mean, really, could you be any more stupid!"

He couldn't move. He knew that voice, which was definitely a female's. He knew those eyes, which were red with no pupils or whites, but most of all he knew the sarcastic way this girl spoke.

Maria flung back her hood and let her long fiery red hair tumble to her waist. Her red eyes were expressionless. "Miss me?"

**HAHAHAHAHA I love that part, personally. I mean, really. It was very fun to write! Predictable? Hell yeah. Fun? OH OF COURSE!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Still loved the end of that last chapter! Ah, so much fun! Oh, yeah, and sorry about my really short chapters. I put short chapters, I know, but it'll get better, if not in this story, in another that I refuse to tell you about at this time.**

**Look, read the disclaimer in chapter four. I don't own, X-Men, XME, and...well, after reading it a few times you kinda memorize it, huh?**

**OHOHOHOH! I almost frikkin forgot! I owe sooo much of my ideas and self confidence (well, what's left) to the one and only MissSparks! She is my best friend in RL and I couldn't have done this story without her! Love ya, MissSparks!**

"_Maria?" Kurt asked me, as if he couldn't really believe I was here. Honestly, I still couldn't believe I was here either. This was going to come back to haunt me. I still hadn't forgiven them, in fact I was still far from it, but I knew that something was wrong today. It was a gut feeling._

_I had run to the X mansion in time to see Mystique morph into the Professor and thought _uh oh. This can't be good_. I had followed her and heard her message to Kitty. Great. They had to be after Kurt? I had saved Kurt, and here I was. No backing out now. _

"_Are you—are you really here?" Kurt asked, and I lost my patience, "Yes, Kurt, I'm really here. Why don't you just take me to the others while I think about whether or not I'm really staying?" His mouth shut with a snap and he led me out the door. "Ve're all having dinner about this time, so I'll take you there."_

_When we got to the door of the cafeteria, I balked. I reluctantly slid inside, but luckily no one was watching me. Kurt just teleported, laughing and talking with renewed happiness. Everyone was staring at him in wonder, kind of like, _is he really getting over it? No way!_ Kurt was questioned by everyone, and he finally answered, "I vas going to the Professor, right, but it really vasn't him. It vas Mystique in disguise. She had me fooled, and she said 'I vill kill you all, vone by vone'. I was about to be killed when she vas thrown to the side by a figure in black. She saved me and took off the inhibitor collar Mystique had placed on me. She took off her hood, and it vas Maria."_

_He looked at me, and I swear at that moment the entire cafeteria went completely silent to stare at me in the doorway. Not good. Jean and Kitty were staring, Scott was surprised, but the Professor didn't look surprised at all. The cafeteria sprang to life and I was surrounded by many, many mutants all at once. "Maria!" Kitty cried, and Jean beamed at me. _

_I began to feel more than slightly claustrophobic, but they kept pressing on. I tried to feel for my knives, but I couldn't get my arms up. Then I had it. I closed my eyes and blasted them all with a wave of complete darkness, blowing them back several feet in a circular shape, but not hurting anyone in the slightest. They looked at me in shock and fear as I growled, "One at a time! Is this really how you treat a newly returned person who happens to be claustrophobic?" They backed off even more and I added, "I'm not even sure if I'm staying, so give me some space, people!"_

_I had begun to think I should have just ditched Kurt back when he didn't know who I was. At least when I had been with Lyanna, she had taken the news that I was a mutant and stowed it away like it had never happened, but no. It was too late to turn back now. If I ditched, I wouldn't be able to go back to Lyanna's. I would have to find another home…again. _

_Kitty began to move towards me tentatively, as if unsure of my reaction. When I didn't move, didn't react, she stopped in front of me and said in a small voice, "Please stay this time, Maria. We're all real sorry we didn't believe you when you told us we could trust you. We all missed you terribly." Her eyes sparked with an old mischievous glint and she smiled, "I bet Kurt could tell you more about that."_

"_Hey!" Kurt protested, but I was smiling softly, unsure of if they were just saying that to make me feel better, "I guess that he needs someone to take the blame for his pranks. Unfortunately, I won't take the blame for anyone anymore." My smile disappeared, "I'm sick and tired of not being trusted and now you all will know what it feels like. I no longer trust any of you. I guess I'll stay, but one wrong word, and you'll wish you had never met me."_

_I swung around and headed out. I headed to my room, which was surprisingly still uninhabited. Of course, the Professor probably knew that I was coming back before even I did, so if someone had been here, the Professor would have found them a new room. Trust the Professor to know these things._

_I placed my backpack and suitcase (which I had picked up in the hallway on the way to the cafeteria) in its original place beside my bed and sat down, facing away from the door. I heard a knock, and said "Come in." Who cares who it was, I thought, it doesn't matter anyway, I guess._

_Storm, Jean and the Professor were at my bedside five seconds later. Clearly this was going to be an interrogation session. Fine. It's not like I have anything better to do. I sighed and said "What do you want to know?"_

"_How you knew that Kurt was in trouble." Storm spoke first._

"_Well, I guess I didn't really __know__ for sure, but I think that you guys have heard of gut feelings, right? I just felt like something was wrong, and if nothing was wrong here, I'd just stay out of sight and leave like nothing had happened." I replied, still looking at the ground._

"_If you were so angry at us, why did you come back to see if we were okay?" Jean asked the next question. This question had a slightly more complicated answer._

"_Well, that one's harder to answer. I guess that I felt a sliver of loyalty to the Professor, and everything he's done for me, so I wanted to make it up to him for leaving the mansion by saving one of you if I could." I thought that that was a pretty good answer, and apparently so did everyone else. They nodded and said their good-byes, leaving me in peace. I changed from my semi-uncomfortable all-black attire in favor of a dark purple spaghetti strap and denim jeans, trading my black boots for black and purple sneakers. I was so restless I was sure that I would never get to sleep, even though I was sure I really needed it, so I headed out the door to take a stroll around the Institute._

_I got to about the second corner before my peaceful nighttime walk was rudely interrupted. I was rounding the corner when Sam, aka Cannonball, shot around the corner holding some small object and careened into me, knocking me to the ground. I landed sprawled on my back, rolling over onto my side and skidding a few feet, and Bobby rounded the corner after him, obviously trying to get the object back. However, when Sam and Bobby realized who Sam had hit, they stopped dead, looking at each other nervously. So much for a peaceful evening._

"_Maria! I'm so sorry!" Sam gasped, handing whatever he was holding to Bobby. "Here—let me help you up." He reached out with a hand towards me, but I recoiled in anger, my eyes flashing murderously. _

_I snarled, "Stay __away__ from me, you idiots!" and got up, wincing as I felt my carpet burns begin to sting, in addition to my right arm and my chest throbbing from where he had hit me as he rounded the corner. They both backed away, and I had a feeling that was the last time they would do anything like that for a long time. I pushed past them to get away from them and before I knew it, I was outside. I guess I just needed to feel the wind whipping across my face, even though it was tainted with pollution. Gosh, but these cities are filthy._

_What? So I'm an environmentalist. What's wrong with that?_

_I walked aimlessly around the streets. Now that it was nighttime, it was less crowded, but it was still crowded nonetheless. I looked up and sighed at how the pollution hid the brightness of the moon. I had enjoyed looking up at the bright full moons every month, but the shine, the brightness had faded from all the pollution blocking the true color and glow. It was sad, but true. One place that I avoided at all cost was my adopted parent's house._

_I began to grow tired over time, so I saw an open food place and walked in to sit down. I was glad that this wasn't a fancy restaurant where you need a reservation to sit down. They're too stuffy. I sat down at one of the tables in an isolated corner and leaned my head against the chair, glad that image inducers had been invented._

_I was not interrupted there, for a nice change, but I made the mistake of not staying ion there for maybe five more minutes. As I left and was walking down the street, I noticed a guy following me, not so much saw as just sensing someone following me. I sighed and, without turning around, said in a calm and level voice, "What do you want?"_

_The guy caught up with me and said in a fake-casual tone, "I heard Mystique talking about you earlier and wanted to see for myself your abilities, see if you are worth the effort that Magneto is putting forth to recruit you." _

"_And who might you be?" I asked in a bored tone, although I already knew the answer from his overlong tongue._

"_Call me Toad." Toad said._

"_Well, I do not show off my powers merely for the pleasure of the public, Toad." I said in a voice as cold as the winter wind. People like this get on my nerves, like Logan does. The difference is that Logan isn't a bad guy; he just says things that offend me. People like Toad are different matters altogether._

"_That's cool." He said, shrugging, "Maybe later."_

"_Yeah, later." I agreed, and then added "Like later as in __never__, if that's what you mean. If not, that's what __I__ mean." I began to walk off, and he didn't follow me, for some reason. I thought for sure that he would pester me until I either showed him (not likely) or knocked him out (most likely)._

_I sighed and began to walk back towards the Institute, suddenly tired. I needed a good night's sleep._

**This was not as fun to write, but still fun. Now, unless I have a complete change of heart, (not likely) this is my last update until I get some good and decent reviews! So please? **


End file.
